CASTLE RAT ~ INTO THE REALM ..... review

Medieval fantasy doom metal is how Brooklyn's Castle Rat describe their music and judging by their videos they certainly dress the part, the respective members utilizing a mix of over the top makeup, headdresses and masks to reflect the medieval fantasy side of their image. Image is all well and good but if you do not have the musical chops to go with that image then basically you end up being just a novelty and Castle Rat, Riley Pinkerton (vocals/guitar); Henry Black (lead guitar/backing vocals); Ronnie Lanzilotta III (bass) and Josh Strmic (drums), are no novelty, this is a band who more than deliver on the doom metal part of their self-description as their debut release "Into The Realm" (King Volume Records) will attest to.

What Castle Rat describe as medieval fantasy doom metal will probably come across, to those of us who have been listening to music from the dark side since we could strap on a pair of earphones, as sitting at the more occult rock end of the doom spectrum, in other words a little more bright and melodic than it is dark and thunderous. First track out of the bag "Dagger Dragger" is testament to this lighter breezier dynamic its bouncy hard rock/proto doom groove, not unlike something you might expect emanating from a Blood Ceremony or a The Devil's Blood release, has a chunky semi-galloping gait that supports clean powerful vocals telling lyrical tales of daggers and demons. "Feed The Dream" follows and finds Castle Rat mixing proto-doom with its more traditional equivalent to come up with a groove that is as dank as it is delightful, especially when twinned with Pinkerton's slightly slurred vocal melody. We are offered a moment of respite with "Resurrector" a brief but highly enjoyable solo piece featuring bassist extraordinaire Lanzilotta III. Its all hands onboard again for "Red Sands" the tale of a wearied warrior set against a backdrop of atmospheric doom/occult metal that boasts scorching lead work from Black and Bonham-esque drumming from Strmic. We get another moment to catch our breaths with "The Mirror" a serene and tranquil dual acoustic guitar piece that leads into the equally serene but slightly less tranquil "Cry For Me", a soaring torch song/lament that showcases not only Pinkerton's vocal power but also her fragility, it is stunning. "Realm" is up next, another short mood piece that is similar in feel to the previous "The Mirror" but this time with the electricity turned on. The band pack a hell of a lot into penultimate track "Fresh Fur", a doomic rocker with an air of off-centredness in both its vocal and musical delivery, so much so that its just under four minute duration feels like twice that, something you won't find us complaining about. "Nightblood" brings proceedings to a close with a song that once again blurs the lines between traditional and proto doom, a full on assault on the senses packed to the rafters with top performances from everyone involved.

The dressing up and make-up may lead some to expecting Castle Rat to jam grooves not too dissimilar in flavour to that of Swedish occult rockers Ghost but they would be wrong in their assumptions, Castle Rat's music, although sharing some of Ghost's melodic qualities, is a much harder and heavier affair that takes its influences from Black Sabbath and the bands and music that Sabbath spawned. It has to be said though that there has been a certain amount of hype circulating around Castle Rat but it is justified hype, these guys can really play, they have great songs and their debut album "Into The Realm" is an absolute banger on every level.

Check it out ......

© 2024 Frazer Jones

IRON BLANKET ~ ASTRAL WANDERER ... review

Probably Desert Psychlist's favourite sub-genre of music would be the one that traversed that period between late sixties heavy blues rock and what would later be classed as heavy metal, we are talking proto-metal/doom here, a period that saw bands like Sir Lord Baltimore, BANG, Buffalo, Budgie and many. many more experimenting with louder amplification and new effects to create a sound that was heavier and harsher than anything that had come before it. Of course you could add big guns like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple to that list but there was something about the uncompromising rawness that those smaller, lesser known, often short-lived bands brought to the table that just felt so primal. It is probably why, to this day, we at Stonerking Towers are still drawn to bands with that proto metal/doom sound and also why we want to draw your attention to Australia's Iron Blanket and their debut album "Astral Wanderer"(Copper Feast Records & Sound Effects Records).

"Evil Mind" kicks things off and, apart from its heavily lysergic middle section, boasts a groove and vocal melody so authentically 70's it'll have you double checking the album notes to verify its release date. "Mystic Goddess" follows, its mixture of circular guitar riffage and driving rhythmic grooviness is decorated in a soaring vocal that tells of a "celestial being from realms unknown" in helium tinted tones that posses an essence of  both Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Rush's Geddy Lee in their delivery as well a smattering of Budgie's Burke Shelley. Expect much of the same for the duration of the rest of the album with songs like the swaggering "Witch's Kiss", the cosmic and spacious "Kookaburra Dream" and the raucous and heavy "Iron Blanket" all steeped in a hybrid mix of 70's proto-metal/doom and 90's stoner rock dressed up with occasional forays into heavy psych. However, do not expect to find yourself getting bored or notice your attention starting to wander while listening to this stunning debut as all of the songs showcased here are of a type that grab you and keep you grabbed until they either bail out in a crescendo of noise or slowly fade into silence.

Iron Blanket members Mark Lonsdale (guitar), Nick Matthews (drums), Tom Withford (Guitar), Charles Eggleston (bass) and Johann Ingemar (vocals) were probably just a twinkle in their respective parents eyes when those early proto bands first tore up stages with their face melting heaviness but this has not stopped Iron Blanket from capturing that same raw grittiness with their own music. Let's not however pass off Iron Blanket as a retro band, there is much to found on "Astral Wanderer" that is informed by today's current underground rock scene, but having said that it is hard to ignore those 70's influences that run gloriously thick and true throughout each and every one of these ass-kicking songs.
Check 'em out .....

© 2024 Frazer Jones

LUCIFER GIANT ~ LUCIFER GIANT .... review

Have you ever listened to a bands earlier work and thought these guys have something good going on here but they are missing an ingredient? Usually in these cases you make a mental note to keep an eye on said band hoping they will find that ingredient and finally deliver the goods but in truth you usually tend to forget all about them when the next blow you away album from another artist/artists drops. This was the case with Switzerland's Lucifer Giant, we at the Psychlist had checked out their earlier released one off tracks and liked what we heard but were not quite sure if the band delivering those tracks were quite where they needed to be sonically yet and so put them to the back of our minds. Fast forward to today and while doing our daily search through Bandcamp's new releases we noticed that Lucifer Giant had released a brand new full length self-titled album, hopeful that they had found that missing ingredient we pushed play and were truly amazed, flabbergasted and blown away by what we heard.

Opening song "Lucifer" may fool you into thinking you are departing on a journey into post-rock territories with its intro of fizzy synthesised drones and military flavoured drumming but when those guitars join the fray you soon come to realise that what you are listening to is doom, not an atypical form of doom granted, but doom nevertheless, albeit doom salted with elements of heavy psych and prog. Another thing that quickly becomes evident is that Lucifer Giant know how to incorporate melody into their songs both musically and vocally, "Lucifer" and its bedfellows "Monument", "Acid Dreams", "Miles Deep Well", "Crimson Curtains" and "Ghost" are not songs built around riffs. although they do have them, these are cleverly structured songs with intelligent arrangements, songs that possess ascending/descending dynamics that combine to create the perfect backdrops for the lilting clean, slightly wearied, vocal melodies and harmonies that decorate them. 

Lucifer Giant, Simu Sigrist (guitar/vocals); Matt Flury (guitar/vocals); Remo (synth/backing vocals); Avi Moser (drums) and Ändu Feuz (bass), have with their self-titled new release delivered an absolute monster of an album, an album that fully delivers on the promise and potential shown on those earlier one off singular releases.

Check 'em out ... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

HEAVY TEMPLE ~ GARDEN OF HEATHENS ...... review

Reading the blurb accompanying Heavy Temple's latest release Desert Psychlist was somewhat shocked to find that it was only 2012 that Heavy Temple came into existence, we say shocked because it seems like they have been around making music for just about forever. Admittedly the band have gone through a few line up changes in their time together and have been a little less than prolific on the album front but it does, partly thanks to their constant touring, feel like they have been around this whole doom/stoner/psych scene a lot longer than they actually have. The band recently finished and have now released their second full length album "Garden Of Heathens" (Magnetic Eye Records), with the ever present High Priestess Nighthawk on bass and vocals, Baron Lycan on drums and Lord Paisley on guitar (Paisley has since left the band), its essential listening!

Things kick off with the sociopathic anthem "Extreme Indifference to Life", a seriously impressive track boasting basement deep bass, grainy circular guitar motifs and thundering punchy drumming but as good as all those things are the real sucker punch comes in the shape of  High Priestess Nighthawk's vocals, her voice possessing in its low register a deep rich timbre and in its upper register boasts an air of dark bluesiness, we are blessed with some truly great vocalists in this thing we call "the underground" and this vocal is up there with the best of them. Things get nicely gnarly for next song "Hiraeth", with Paisley laying down some  heavily fuzzed six-string crunchiness ably supported by busy solid drumming and bouncy growling bass from Lycan and Nighthawk the song, a mixture of proto-doomic gallop and hard rock furiosity, also features some incendiary lead work as well as another top class vocal performance. "Divine Indiscretion" is up next, Nighthawk delivering a powerful, slightly gothic tinted vocal telling us she's "a monster on the inside" over a groove that begins life in hard rock territory and accelerates to an almost speed metal tempo in its final quarter. The excellently titled "House of Warship" follows and begins with wordless wailing before erupting into what is probably the albums most traditionally doomic groove so far, well that is if you can call this onslaught of twisted guitar tones, abstract bass lines and full on manic drumming "traditional", the song also marks Nighthawks finest vocal performance of the entire album. We stay in doomic territory for "Snake Oil (and Other Remedies)" but this time a more desert rock take on doom, heavy on fuzz but lighter on atmospherics while instrumental title track "Garden of Heathens" ramps up the atmospherics and twins them with acoustic guitars and cello (supplied by guest John Forrestal). Up until this point things have been REALLY GOOD but GOOD soon makes way for GREAT with next track "Jesus Wept" the track boasting dissonant guitar textures squawking and squealing over Bonham-esque drum patterns anchored by grizzled bass and elevated by Nighthawk's powerful and intentionally off kilter vocal melodies, the song wandering into the realms of free form improvisation in places. Heavy Temple sign off their second full length album with "Psychomanteum" a title that could easily be shortened to just "psycho" as this instrumental comes at you like Norman Bates in a shower, slashing at you with its razer sharp lead work, pinning you with its weighty bass lines and bludgeoning you with its furious drumming, if there is a better closing track on an album released this year then Desert Psychlist has yet to hear it.

It's still kind of hard to believe that "Garden of Heathens" is only Heavy Temple's second full length album, especially given how long they have been around, but the best things are always worth waiting for and Heavy Temple have with their new album delivered one of the best things you'll hear this year.

Check it out ...   

© 2024 Frazer Jones

LOUD ~ SUPER HEAVY DOOM .... review

That damn Chilean underground scene has its hooks embedded deep into us here at Desert Psychlist, it seems that every time we think the we have heard all the country has to offer up pops another outfit and drags us back into the countries clutches. The outfit pulling on those hooks today is a Punta Arenas trio going by the name Loud, and before you ask yes they are loud, they are also heavy, doomic and have a penchant for going off on unexpected tangents into cosmic climes, all of which makes their latest album "Super Heavy Doom" a very interesting and highly satisfying listening experience.

A good friend of Desert Psychlist recently described Loud as Chile's answer to Electric Wizard and it is easy to see why he came up with that analogy, like those doom/sludge legends Loud don't lightly dust their grooves with fuzz and distortion they lay it on thick with a trowel, something that must give their studio engineers nightmares as they see all their needles going into the red. The band, Sebastián Bazán (guitar/vox/synth); Gustavo Beytía (bass) and Edgar Acosta (drums/chorus.vox/synth), are not overly concerned with the clarity of their vocals either opting for partly buried in the mix clean tuneful shouting rather than actual singing. Now we can understand if, given our description, you are starting to think that this all sounds like a bit of a mess and in certain regards it is but it is a gloriously delightful mess loosely held together by elements of dissonance and disharmony. As for songs, well Loud have them and even give them titles like "El Huasa", "Black Drug", "Necro-addict, sataná" and "Dementia Doom" but in truth these are not so much songs as huge slabs of delicously dank dark riffage and thunderous rhythms that are occasionally interrupted by moments of lysergic languidity and synth generated spaciousness., it may not sound like it written down but this magical stuff!

Fuzzy, scuzzy, heavy and laced with enough acidity to show up on a litmus test Loud's "Super Heavy Doom" is a must have for those with a love of raw uncompromising doom metal.

Check it out .... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

ACID MAMMOTH ~ SUPERSONIC MEGAFAUNA COLLISION .... review

Acid Mammoth, Chris Babalis Jr (vocals/guitars); Chris Babalis Sr. (guitars); Dimosthenis Varikos (bass) and Marios Louvaris (drums) have risen from promising new kids on the block to being one of those bands whose albums are pre-ordered well in advance of their release date but it has not been an overnight thing, they have worked hard to get where they are today. The band was formed by schoolfriends Babalis Jr. and Varikos and were soon joined by Babalis Jr's father Babalis Sr. and Louvaris, the band then set about honing their chops on their local scene before going on to fund and self-release their first album "Acid Mammoth". After garnering positive reactions from all the right quarters with their debut they then signed to Heavy Psych Sounds Records who along with releasing their next albums "Under Acid Hoof" and "Caravan" also paired them with heavy Italian doomsters 1782 for "Vol.2" of their "Doom Sessions" series while also re-releasing their debut album. The band have since toured Europe and have also graced the stages of Desertfest (London & Antwerp) as well as SonicBlast and are now releasing, again via Heavy Psych Sounds Records, their latest album "Supersonic Megafauna Collision", an album packed to the rafters with all the quality doom and hard rock we have come to expect from these guys plus a few unexpected twists and turns.

It is the track that gives the album its title that opens proceedings, "Supersonic Megafauna Collision" is typical Acid Mammoth fare, thick heavy dual guitar riffs, low grumbling bass lines and powerful drumming supporting clean slightly witchy but wholly effective vocals, a song that does not try to hide its Sabbathian roots but neither tries to push those roots to the fore. It is followed by "Fuzzorgasm (Keep On Screaming)" its thundering, just a notch above sedate, psych-doom groove holding sway up until just around the halfway mark when Babalis Jr's distinctive vocals join the party to tell a tale of fire and desire. Acid Mammoth show us a whole new side to their doom on the excellent "Garden of Bones", the song boasting an off-piste sinister element made even more menacing by its off-centred guitar tones and  oddly paced "witchy" vocal melodies. "Atomic Shaman" is up next, the off-centred eeriness of the previous track jettisoned for a more up-tempo proto-doomic attack beneath which Louvaris delivers some of the albums most impressive drumming. It's back to the weirdness for penultimate number "One With The Void", the songs spacious sounding guitar tones and restrained percussion framing a low key vocal that is almost mantra like in its delivery, Desert Psychlist guesses you could describe this song as having a dark lysergic spiritual vibe. Final song "Tusko's Last Trip" twins exotic off-kilter guitar motifs with forays into proto-doomic bluster, Babalis Jr's unique vocals the only constant in a song that seems to be routinely pulled back from the edge of all out heaviness but is so much more satisfying because of that restraint.  

Acid Mammoth's "Supersonic Megafauna Collision" sees the band moving slightly away from Sabbathian flavoured doom of their early albums and dipping their toes into a more psych orientated form of the genre, still riff heavy still just as enjoyable but just a little more textured and colourful. 

Check it out ....  

© 2024 Frazer Jones

UNDER THE SUN ~ THE BELL OF DOOM ..... review

While there may be countless songs titled "Under the Sun," Desert Psychlist is aware of only one band with that name. Hailing from Athens, this Greek group delivers a brand of rock'n'roll rich in fuzz and laden with crunchy riffs, a sound that's evident on their debut album "The Bell of Doom."(Sound Effects Records)

Given the albums title and artwork and the fact that the word "DOOM" looms large on its cover it might be expected that Under The Sun's debut is an opus drenched in dark down tuned dankness. While it is true that there are moments when the band DO don their cloaks and ride the Sabbathian train to the gates of hell the overall feel throughout this album is one of heavy rock spliced with a little blues and southern rock swagger. First track, "Smoking Angels" opens with a throaty shout of "Oh Yeah" then after a brief burst of rolling drums erupts into a foot to the floor hard rock romp that sits crunchily beneath a gritty vocal that tells of celestial beings getting off their tits on exotic substances. It is followed by "Cry Out" an equally dirty rocker anchored by growling bass and punchy drumming and features swirly guitar motifs squealing and squawking over and around a grizzled and grainy vocal melody. Title track "The Bell of Doom" begins, as it should, with a tolling bell then explodes into a proto-doom(ish) slow and heavy refrain with the vocals mixing up their grittiness with an element of old school doomic semi-operatics.  The doominosity of the previous song hangs around like a heavy mist for next song "One Reason" only this time with a little torch-like bluesiness added into the mix, while next track "Going Down" sees Under The Sun employing a little heavy rock stutter in their attack. "The Shot" boasts one of those hard to ignore circular guitar motif's as its hook and there are also moments here, both vocally and musically, where the band get very close to sounding like their fellow countrymen Planet of Zeus, an observation that can also be levelled at following track "Pony Ride". Lastly comes "Know My Name" an absolute gem that is initially full on and rocking but then brings in to play a weird yet wonderful bass heavy middle section replete with vaudevillian vocal trade offs before signing off on a wave of droning effects. 

Greece has a had its fair share of problems over the years, especially financially, but there are two things you can always rely on Greece to deliver and that is to die for holiday destinations and ass-kicking underground rock and Under The Sun, with "The Bell Of Doom", have more than delivered on the latter.

Check 'em out .... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones